Tim Smith: 'We have got to look at the economy being more balanced with industries that create jobs for local people'

A more balanced and resilient economy for everyone is essential to ensure Reading is strong enough to come through future downturns, a new study says.

The town is a magnet to technology-based businesses but the recession has made it increasingly difficult for local people with few qualifications to find work.

The findings come from an economic assessment carried out by The University of Reading for Reading UK CIC.

A strategy to support a shift to a more balanced economy is one of the aims of the economic development company which commissioned the study as part of a comprehensive review of its business.

Reading UK CIC also wants to boost skills and training, help small and medium sized business to grow and keep employers in Reading.

Executive director Tim Smith said: “We now have a far greater and detailed knowledge of the economy and its needs than we ever have.

“What we are trying to achieve is a better balanced and more resilient economy than perhaps we have had for the last three or four years.

“It is ICT and financial services which make us such a powerhouse but there is a strong body of evidence, which is not new, that we have got to look at the economy being more balanced with industries that create jobs for local people.”

The university study highlighted the skills gap which exists in the town and said failure to plan strategically for the development of Reading could have far reaching damaging economic effects.

Mr Smith said: “Such a key element of what we do now is Skills for Business which aims to encourage employers to focus on the skills of their own workforce and that in turn will benefit the whole community because that workforce will have been employed locally.”

Reading UK CIC now has a skills co-ordinator and is running a Skills Summit on Thursday, May 26, at the pentahotel, in Oxford Road, in the town centre.

Mr Smith carried out a review of Reading UK CIC to ensure it was still fit for purpose after nearly four years since becoming a company.

Its strategy to 2015 also includes working with property agents to avoid big employers leaving Reading when their office leases are up.

Mr Smith said: “The important thing is these corporations provide the life blood to the local economy.

“Keeping the larger employers will in turn support the SMEs.”

Mr Smith is also keen to give new businesses a better chance to grow and to support existing employers by helping with access to space and finance.

He said Reading UK CIC is exploring “quite an exciting prospect” of working with partners to help start-ups.

Mr Smith also believes Reading should seize the 2012 London Olympics as an opportunity to sell the town to visitors as an excellent leisure and business destination.

He said: “We want to get the message out that it’s a 26-minute journey from Reading to London and you can get to the Olympic site as easily as you can from many other areas.

“We should use the Olympic year as a great platform to get skills levels to a first class level and then keep them there.”

Mr Smith is also keen that Reading UK CIC exerts influence in areas where it does not have any direct control such as good housing provision. Reading UK CIC, which has grown from a four to six person operation, is also known for its involvement in art and cultural events such as Outside:Inside and Eat Reading.

Mr Smith said: “That demonstrates the reach and breadth of what we are about.

“Having grown as a company, a lot of what we are talking about has a strategic importance but we still have the ability to deliver things on the ground which are important to local businesses, to visitors, to shoppers and to residents.”